Makes about 6 - 8 serves

Equipment:

2 large saucepans, knife, sieve, chopping board grater

Ingredients:

500g beef mince, lean

1 brown onion, chopped finely

5 garlic cloves, chopped finely

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can brown lentil, drained and rinsed

1 zucchini, grated

Veg that needs saving from the crisper aka very sad brussels sprouts & mushrooms, chopped finely

1 x stock cube

4 tablespoons tomato paste

2 bay leaves, dried basil leaves and oregano

Fresh parsley, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

Parmesan, grated

Pepper

Pasta

Method:

1. Saute onion and garlic in a couple of tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2. Add mince, stir and cook until slightly browned

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and some water from rinsing the tomato cans

4. Keep stirring until the vegetables are cooked, keep adding water as needed. Once vegetables are cooked continue stirring to reduce to a thick sauce. The longer you cook it for the better the flavour.

5. Cook pasta as per directions and drain

6. Serve spaghetti sauce on pasta and top with Parmesan cheese, yum!

Tips: Food cost and waste saving tips

With the cost of living increasing and food wastage being a huge problem, it is important to make good use of the food you buy.

• This is the perfect sauce to freeze as it defrost really well. Then you only have to boil some water and cook some pasta to serve.

• Hiding vegetables in spaghetti bolognaise is a perfect way to increase the nutritional value of the dish and to get more servings for less money. You wouldn’t even know they are in there.

• Hard cheese like Parmesan can be kept in the freezer and grated from frozen. This is useful if you know you won’t use the whole block before it goes bad. The same goes for pre-grated cheese.

• As long as vegetables aren’t mouldy or that wet, gross kind of soft then you can chop them up and hide them in dishes like this. If you know that you won’t use them before they go bad, pop them in the freezer and use them in soups or curries in the future.